By the APS Academy
The GovAI Use Case Library is a growing resource designed to showcase how agencies across the Australian Public Service (APS) are applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve operations, enhance service delivery, and support informed decision-making. Below are 5 examples, selected from more than 20 currently available, that demonstrate how AI is being used to address common public sector needs. Each use case outlines the challenges they addressed, the AI-enabled solution, and their subsequent impacts.
We invite you to explore these examples and consider how similar approaches might support your agency’s work.
1. Bowerbird
Problem Faced: The National Film and Sound Archive needed a better way to make its large audio collection searchable and accessible. Existing transcription methods were inaccurate, not tailored to Australian English or First Nations languages, and manual transcription was too resource-intensive.
Solution Overview: An AI system was designed to transcribe audio content more accurately, considering Australian English nuances and cultural specifics. This system improves accuracy and reduces bias in training data by being more representative of spoken language.
Benefits and Impact: Bowerbird improves efficiency by automating transcription, enhancing data quality and searchability, and supporting better decision-making through structured analytics. It also broadens public access to cultural content, processing thousands of files daily and over 10 years of content in 2025.
2. ParliHelper
Problem Faced: The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations needed a faster, more reliable way to review and summarise large volumes of Senate Estimates material, which traditionally required extensive human effort and was prone to errors.
Solution Overview: ParliHelper uses AI-driven natural language processing to automatically summarise Senate Estimates discussion from Hansard transcripts and committee hearings, extracting key insights quickly and consistently. It streamlines the review process and supports timely decision-making.
Benefits and Impact: By automating the review process, ParliHelper saved around 500 hours of effort by processing 128 hours of Senate Estimates content in just 22 minutes. Policymakers can now access insights faster, leading to more informed and timely decisions.
3. CLIK Chat
Problem Faced: Staff at Department of Veterans’ Affairs struggled to find accurate information across 10,000+ pages of policy content on the Clik website. Outdated and duplicated material, combined with limited tools, made manual review unsustainable.
Solution Overview: CLIK Chat, an AI-powered chatbot solution, was developed to integrate with service platforms and deliver accurate, policy-aligned answers to natural language questions. It searches and ranks relevant content from the Clik website, ensuring responses are based on structured, up-to-date material.
Benefits and Impact: CLIK Chat improves access to policy information, enabling faster, more consistent responses for staff and the public. It reduces support burden, enhances decision-making confidence, and helps deliver timely outcomes for the public.
4. AI Guardrails Assistant
Problem Faced: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) needed to prevent unintentional leaks of protected scientific data when using AI tools, while ensuring compliance with privacy, IP, and policy standards.
Solution Overview: The AI Guardrail Assistant uses a large language model to detect protected information in prompts and documents, automatically check outputs for policy alignment, and support risk and quality management.
Benefits and Impact: The tool automates compliance checks, reducing manual review time and meeting regulatory standards. It prevents legal and reputational risks, offering significant cost savings while improving document quality and consistency.
5. AI Driven Liaison Analytics Tool
Problem Faced: The Reserve Bank of Australia sought a way to enhance economic analysis through AI without inherent bias or inaccuracies.
Solution Overview: This tool employs machine learning and natural language processing to classify economic data, support policy implementation, and predict financial trends. It uses a dual approach of language models and keyword dictionaries.
Benefits and Impact: The analytics tool improves decision-making and policy analysis through accurate data insights, mitigating bias and enhancing inclusivity. It strengthens the reliability of economic analyses and forecasts.
More Information
The GovAI Use Case Library is a hub for discovering transformative AI applications. Explore more case studies or contribute your own insights here. Join the community in shaping the future of technology in the Australian public service. Have a use case to share? Fill out this Expression of Interest form.